Attendance Awareness

September is Attendance Awareness Month

Throughout September, our Child Welfare and Attendance Department wants every Rapides Parish family to know why attendance matters, what counts as an excused absence, and what to do when your child has to miss a day of school.

Families are our most important partners in this work. You are the ones getting children ready each morning, and you know your child's routines better than anyone. Just as you keep an eye on grades, we ask you to set clear expectations for attendance and watch how absences add up. A day here and a day there can quietly turn into weeks of missed instruction.

Let's work together to make sure our students are in class and ready to learn every day!

LDOE ATTENDANCE RESOURCES

RPSB ATTENDANCE POLICY

LOUISIANA ATTENDANCE POLICY

Types of Absences

Non-Exempted (Excused)

Absences of two (2) or fewer consecutive school days/incurred due to personal illness or serious illness in the family (documented by acceptable excuses, including a parental note) which are not considered for purposes of truancy, but which are considered when determining whether or not a student is eligible to make up work and tests, receive credit for work completed, and receive credit for a course and/or school year completed.

Exempted (Excused)

Unexcused Absences

any absences not meeting the requirements set forth in the excused absences and extenuating circumstances definitions, including but not limited to absences due to any job (including agriculture and domestic services, even in the student's own home or for their own parents or tutors) unless it is a part of an approved instructional program. Students shall be given failing grades for those days missed and shall not be given an opportunity to make up work.

Suspensions

Non-exempted absences for which a student is allowed to make up his/her work and is eligible for consideration for credit provided it is completed satisfactorily and in a timely manner. The absence shall be considered when determining whether or not a student may or may not be promoted but shall not be considered for purposes of truancy. Students absent from school as a result of any suspension shall be counted as absent.

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Extenuating Circumstances

Exceptions to the attendance regulation shall be the enumerated extenuating circumstances below that are verified by the Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance or the school principal/designee where indicated.

These exempted absences do not apply in determining whether a student meets the minimum minutes of instruction required to receive credit.

Only the following shall be considered extenuating circumstances under which absences shall be exempt from provisions of compulsory attendance laws as verified by the Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance, the school principal or designee where indicated.

These exempted absences do not apply in determining whether a student meets the minimum minutes of instruction as required to receive credit:

1. Extended personal physical or emotional illness as verified by a physician, licensed mental / behavioral health provider, or nurse practitioner licensed in the state;

2. Extended hospital stay in which a student is absent as verified by a physician or dentist;

3. Extended recuperation from an accident in which a student is absent as verified by a physician, dentist, or nurse practitioner licensed in the state;

4. Extended contagious disease within a family in which a student is absent as verified by a physician or dentist licensed in the state;

5. Quarantine due to prolonged exposure to or direct contact with a person diagnosed with a contagious, deadly disease, as ordered by state or local health officials; or

6. Observance of special and recognized holidays of the student's own faith;

7. As provided by Act 142 of 2008, a child whose parent is a member of the Armed Forces or National Guard and whose parent has been called to duty for or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting shall be granted not more than five school days per school year to visit with the parent prior to the parent's deployment or during the parent's leave and upon returning to school the student shall be permitted to complete all class assignments and tests missed during the absence. For any other extenuating circumstances, the student's parents or legal guardian must make a formal appeal in accordance with the due process procedures established by the school system. Students who are verified as meeting extenuating circumstances and therefore eligible to receive grades shall not receive those grades if they are unable to complete makeup work or pass the course;

8. Absences as verified by the principal or his/her designee as stated below:

a) Prior school system approved travel for education;

b) Death in the immediate family (not to exceed one week);

c) Natural catastrophe and/or disaster

9. Mandated court appearance as verified by a Court Official (Board approval)

10. For any other extenuating circumstances, the student’s parents or legal guardian must make a formal appeal in accordance with the process procedures established by the LEA.

School-Approved Activities

Written Excuses

For a student to be eligible to receive credit and make up work following an absence, the student shall be required in each instance to submit parental confirmation of the reasons for the absence. If a student is tardy or absent, the parent or guardian must submit a written excuse, signed and dated, to school authorities upon the student's return to classes, stating the reason for the student's absence from school. A doctor's, dentists’, licensed mental / behavioral health provider, or nurse practitioner's written statement of student's incapacity to attend school is acceptable. All excuses for a student's absence, including medical verification of extended personal illness must be presented within three (3) school days of the student's return to school, or the student's absence shall be considered unexcused and the student not allowed to make-up work missed. After three (3) school days, no documentation shall be accepted. All make-up work should be completed and handed in within a reasonable time.

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